Valdez

A federal appeals court Friday cut in half a $5-billion jury award for punitive damages against Exxon Mobil Corp. in the 1989 Valdez oil spill. The case, one of the nation's longest-running noncriminal legal disputes, stems from a 1994 decision by an Anchorage jury to award the damages to 34,000 fishermen and other Alaskans. Their property and livelihoods were harmed when the oil tanker Valdez struck a charted reef, spilling 11 million gallons of oil. It was the third time the U.S.

Floodwaters so severely damaged a 66-mile stretch of highway that it could be closed for up to a week, isolating the port of Valdez from the rest of Alaska, state officials said Wednesday. "There are huge washouts in the roadway and approaches to bridges," said Shannon McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation. "We have debris on the road. We have mudslides. We have asphalt that's literally missing, that just washed away."

Forget the search for the next American Idol. Colombia is looking for a new Juan Valdez. That nation's association of coffee growers is retiring its spokesmodel Carlos Sanchez, who has been on the job -- and untold millions of coffee cans -- since 1969. The new coffee king must embody the spirit of a "Juan Valdez more relevant for the future of Colombian coffee," said Gabriel Silva, general manager of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia.

Norman Rose, an eclectic actor whose face was less recognizable than his room-filling baritone, which prompted colleagues to dub him "the Voice of God," has died. He was 87. Rose died Friday at his home in Upper Nyack, N.Y., after a brief illness, according to his agent, John J.A. Hossenlopp III. The actor, who actually was the voice of God in Woody Allen's 1975 motion picture, "Love and Death," began performing as a student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Ismael Valdez made a small adjustment to his motion, and it made all the difference. He pitched seven strong innings for his first victory in more than a month, leading the San Diego Padres over the Brewers, 5-2, Sunday at Milwaukee. "I kept the ball down, and my pitches were working a lot better. My body was going toward first base instead of toward home plate," Valdez said, adding that he also moved to the left side of the rubber to help his balance.

A federal judge Wednesday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay about $6.75 billion to thousands of Alaskans affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The ruling is the latest of several damage awards in the case over the last decade -- the result of successful appeals in federal court by Exxon. The company plans to appeal again. The ruling by U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland ordered Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, to pay $4.5 billion in punitive damages and about $2.25 billion in interest.

Hidden pools of oil left over from the Exxon Valdez spill 14 years ago continued to damage the Alaskan coastal environment for a decade, killing pink salmon eggs and retarding the population growth of sea otters, harlequin ducks and other wildlife, a new study says.

I went to Albuquerque in February for the "Chicano Visions" opening at the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico. Then I stayed in New Mexico for four days. Usually I take a train there. You leave in the evening, have dinner on the train, go to bed, and in the morning, you're in Albuquerque. The hotel I stay at is La Posada de Albuquerque. From there I took the shuttle to Santa Fe. I stay at the Hotel Santa Fe. It's partially owned by Native Americans.

A federal judge Friday reduced by $1 billion the damage award against Exxon Mobil Corp. for spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound 13 years ago. U.S. District Judge Russel Holland reduced the original $5-billion punitive damages award to $4 billion. An Alaska jury in 1994 approved the original award in the Exxon Valdez spill, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found it excessive and sent the case back to Holland. Exxon Mobil says it will appeal the new figure.